1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved structure of a parts feeder which may be employed in feeding electronic parts such as chip components to a mounting device for mounting them on a printed circuit board, for example.
2. Background Art
Parts feeders are known which are designed to lift up parts supplied to a parts orientation chamber to an outlet along an inner peripheral surface of the parts orientation chamber using a magnetic mechanism. A parts orienting path is defined upstream of the outlet which allows only the parts oriented in given directions to pass therethrough. Only the parts oriented in alignment with a transport path leading to the outlet when arriving at the outlet are allowed ultimately to enter the transport path through the outlet, while the others are dropped on the bottom of the parts orientation chamber without entering the transport path. The drawback may, therefore, be encountered in that the dropping parts are accumulated on the bottom of the parts orientation chamber, thereby blocking the parts orienting path.